Starting-crank support



May 4 1926.

F. AxELsQN STARTING CRANK SUPPORT Filed sept. 14. 1925 Patented May4, 19726.

UNITED STATES STARTING-Canam SUPPORT. 1 Y

Application ledleptember 14, r19.25. Serial 1\`I'o.`v 56,171.

. To 'all/whom t may concern.'

Be it :known that I, FRITZ AxELsoN, a citi- Zen ofthe United States, residing at the -city and county ofv Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Supports; and I d'o'declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable vothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usey the same, referen'cebeing'had to the accompanying drawings, and to the charactersV of reference 'markedthereom which form a part of this application.A

This invention relates to improvements in devices for' supporting automobile starting cranks. y

Internal ,combustion engines are used almost exclusively for driving automobiles as well as for manyother uses and are therefore very common. A.

Inorder to start aninternal combustion engine it must be rotated to some extent so as to get a vcharge-of combustible mixture into the vproper cylinder and this is now accomplished by meansA of a suitable' electric starter. AIt vsometimes happens, however, that the starter becomes inoperative and the engine' 'must then be manually rotated through the medium of a crank. lOne maker o'f'automobiles provides his cars with cranks thatare'always in place so as to be available whenneeded. Other automobile makeers'provide cranks that can be put into place when needed, butV which are normally carried inthe tool box. When the crank 1s per- .manently attached' to the machine, it sometimes becomes loose, due to the constant jarring to which it is subjected and it will then be the cause of disagreeable noise. To prevent the crank from swinging and rattling, various devices have been tried with more or less success.

It is the object of this invention to produce a` crank holder that shall be so constructed that it will be adapted to be located to the rear of the radiator and` underneath the hood so that it will be entirely concealed under normal conditions and which can be readily applied without the use of special tools. It is a further object to produce a device of this type that shall be exceedingly simple and which can therefore be cheaply constructed. f

AIn order to describe my invention so that it can be readily understood and to explain in Starting-Crank v.

connection same, I'shall have reference tothe accompanying drawingiin which the preferred embodiment has been illustrated and in which: Fig. l vis a perspective View `of the front end of an lautomobile showing the position in which the crank is held by means of my invention; y i

Fig. 2is a. plan view of the front end of a crank case showin place and held against movement by meansV ofj my invention; parts of lthe members shown being broken away so Vas to better disclose the construction; i

Fig. 3 Vis a longitudinal section taken on 1in@ 3 3 Fig. 21,2 g f y Fig. 4t is atransverse section taken on fline' Hriga; 'l

'and

Fig. 6 isv a side elevation lied form of my invention.v i

Numeral lv designates the front end support-cfa crank case such vas employed in with a well Jknown'make ofV aushowing a modi- Ythe manner of constructing and-.using the the starting crank in tomobile. As they enginey has three-point suspension', the tip of this case is provided with a tubular portionQ that is journaled in a box 3 onjthe chassis frameffSecured within this v tubular journal'is a bushing Alv which serves as bearing forthe straight portion 5 of thecrank G.' This bushing is made longerthan the tubular member 2 throughv which it extends an'dprojects rearwardlyl forv a distance vof aboutl -one `inch (Figs. 2 and Secured Ito the inner end of `thecrank farm "5 isa starting crank ratchet 7 that is held against movement .with respect to the part 5, by means of a pin 8 that extends diametrically through the ratchet and the part 5. This pin has a head 9 and is held in place by a cotter pin V10.

'A spring il encircles the part 5 to the front ot the end'support and tends to hold the crank in such a position that the shoulderYK 120i the ratchet 7., abuts the rear end of` the bushing 4L (Fig. 2). When the crank is Y employed for start-ing the engine, it is moved rearwardly, against the tension of the spring ll, until it engages y'a pin on the crank shaft, but when itisnot 1n use it is held .inY its forward position by the action of the spring l1. Itis evident that if no means is'provided to hold the crank in any definite position that it will assume a position in which the crank arm hangs vertical Y till La) i' tion 15 extending rearwardly toa point back as this Would'be ini-accordance, with-the ac--ll in any desired position and to prevent it from dangling and rattling, r Ii have securedY to the exposed rear end ofthe bushing 4 a" member that I have designated asawhole by,V the numeral 18. This member has a cylindrical part 14'of an inside: diameter whiclr f permits it to be slipped over the rear end ofV the bushingf4 and which is provided :With' a set screwtl'byineans of'vwhich it may." be clamped `in place i and prevented' l fromlv relativemovement avitlrrespect to the bushing. The rear end ofmember lvlias a porof the head9 0f the boltV 8' The inner surface of part 15 is concave -inlthe direct-ion of the axis ofv member 13 and eccentric with respect ther-eto- (Fig. 4). At the edge 17, theinner surfaceis spaced from the center and from the outer surface of the lratchet 7 a sufficient distance. to permit the head to enter. Owingwto the eccen-z tricity, the distance between V,the inner surface of memberV 15 and the outer surface of the ratchet decreases in. a. counter clockwise direction (Fig. 4) and the head 9 can thereforefmovev onlyl ashort` distance before it Will bind against the inner surface of meinber'15. Itl is'now, evident that the crank can move only a short distance in a counter Y clockwise direction (Fig. g 4) before it is brought "to a stop `by the head 9 engaging the member` 15A.' By properly adjusting the member 13 cnthe bushing 4, the crank can be heldin the position shown in Fig. 1 or in. any position between the vertical ones. Thel questionof Whether the vcrank Will be held inthe 1positio-n shown with respect to the center rof l the machine (pointing to the right) vor lnot is determined by the arrangement of ythe part 15. By reversing the direction of Vthe inclination from that shown in Fig. 4 the crank would have to be rotated inthe opposite direction in order-'tobecome locked. The part 15 is of such length that bepput inplace or removed. It will be seen from Fig-5 that my invention is very simple and; comprisesVV tn ,pcylindrical portion (14) having an extension 15 projecting from one end, the inner surface of which is-eccentric-y with respect te 'the` axis :of the cylindrical pai-t. Tlielin'ner surface of-thef projectingV par-t l-vshou'ld, preferably bercoiicave iny the direction of the axis so that the crank Will` bevheld. against longitudinal movementas well as `against rotary; movement.

In Fig. 6 I have showna modification in i which thebushiiig44r isifformed with. an ex.

tension 151 corresponding togthe extension 15 -on member 13. As the onlydife-rencebetween theeinbodiment shown in.y Fig. 5 and that shown in Fig. Gisone of size, I. shall not enter into any detailed description of the same.

Having now. 'described my inventiomwhat I claim as new is:

1. A device for holding a crank from rotating in one directionl which comprises, in-

combination, a member having anl opening adapted to receive one end of a crank, aspro- ]ectioii extending from one side ofA the crank andy ainember vhaving an eccentrically .arrangedsurface adapted to bevengagedby the projection: andV to actas a stop against rotation inone; direction. Y

E2. An varticley of "manufacture comprising a cylindricalybody meiifiber,` having an arcuate .surface projecting from one. end, said surface .being eccentric Awith respect to the raxisV of the cylindricalA portion4 andY interi-v orally. concave in v'the direction ofthe axis of the cylindrical member.

InY testimony whereof I- aiiix my signature.

FRITZ '.AXELSON. 

